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'Dollhouse': Boyd, Bennett and 'Getting Closer'

January 9, 2010 | 9:48
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Gushing over "Dollhouse's" plot twists and turns, over how you should never feel that you're in a safe place with ANY character, over how this ensemble of actors, this storyline and this show are taking viewers on a very cool roller-coaster ride with enough quick spins to create couch-bound whiplash, seems so ... mean.

There are two more episodes to go after last night's aptly titled "Getting Closer," and there's still much mystery surrounding the goings-on of the dollhouse. Who may still betray whom and what the world is going to look like because of it all are a couple of the big sticking points left. There's also Echo/Caroline (Eliza Dushku, pictured), Paul Ballard, Topher's mind-altering creation, Whiskey/Dr. Saunders and much more. From the last few scenes of this episode with Harry Lennix's Boyd Langdon, and the preview for next week's episode, this whole thing has become a bit topsy-turvy. In a good way.

So we know from the end of the last episode that they're all trying to put Caroline back into Echo's body. She's seen who the big bad is at Rossum, and that'll help the hastily formed subversive group take down the corporation. But they can't find Caroline, or better yet, Caroline's personality. My first thought: Alpha! My second thought: chocolate chip cookies!

Ahem, back to Alpha -- or not. He's nowhere to be found, so the next best "Firefly" actor on the show steps in as Summer Glau's Bennett helps to restore the personality of Caroline. It's a problem since they were friends and Caroline used her and then left her trapped (for her own good) under a huge concrete slab. She strikes a deal with Echo to get revenge on Caroline once she's back.

The L.A. dollhouse is going into action, though, bringing in dolls and giving them back their original personalities. Meaning November returns, which is sad. And Paul Ballard has to bring her in, which is even sadder. And changing November BACK into Mellie instead of her original Madelyn was saddest of all. Doesn't seem right, unless it's for Paul. Ballard's whole back-from-the-dead-but-lost-a-piece-of-himself storyline doesn't have much weight. He may have lost feelings for Echo, but his sense of purpose and honor and right and wrong is still there. For now. I trust no one at this point.

Which brings us to Dr. Saunders. Yes, Amy Acker's Whiskey (pictured) returns and it seems that Boyd has been hiding the intoxicating doll, getting drunk on love! Surprising that he would keep something like that from Adelle and everyone, but we're just happy to see her back. Other dolls make appearances, including ex-Laker Rick Fox! I knew that attack on the Sacremento Kings player was programmed! Rick, a purple flower is placed in the vase ...

Well anyway, now the players are in place -- right as the floor falls out from underneath them. First, via an L.A. dollhouse leadership takeover, which Boyd stops with three fatal bullets. He does take a bullet himself, though. DeWitt tells him to run, injured and all, noting that he'd also make a good decoy for Rossum's forces to follow. They'll quickly find out the peaceful takeover attempt failed. They'll come in forcefully.

Topher and Bennett (Summer Glau and Fran Kranz, pictured) are a cute couple now, with Topher finally admitting his crush. Whiskey thinks it's cute too. Real love even. Then she puts a bullet through Bennett's brain in front of Topher.

The speed in which she turned evil was startling. I was as in shock as Topher -- cookie crumbs on my face instead of blood. If Rossum got to her, they could've gotten to anyone. She was hiding out with Boyd fer goodness ... Ohhhh.

As everyone runs away from the mow-entering Rossum soldiers, and as Topher tries to restore Echo/Caroline, Boyd returns. But I thought he was injured and ran? We see, as Caroline's memories return, that Boyd and a Clyde Randolph II (whose "in this body" comment will have to be explained) were the big bads of Rossum Corp.

WHAT?!?! But things fall into place when you look at it. It was never revealed why he was there, besides the cover he gave DeWitt. Seemingly a good guy who'd done some bad things, he could've worked elsewhere. He had a protection connection to Echo that was always a bit out of place, but it was just for her. At least Ballard made it clear that not only was he there for Echo, and to an extent November, but he was also trying to take down the dollhouse. Boyd never really made that proclamation.

So this is where we're going. Boyd Langdon, probably the most trusted man in the dollhouse, happens to (possibly) be one of the men they've been trying to take down all along. Just like in the photo (with Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt and Bennett), he's always lurking a bit in the background. But so many questions remain, and we see the return of Caroline next week.

Speaking of Caroline, we got the chance to have a quick talk with Dushku before the new year started -- kind of an exit interview -- and here's a few of the questions and answers.

Echo was fighting for Caroline, to save the body for her, until she got a glimpse of Caroline through Bennett. That created a problem we hadn't encountered, right?

Right. Yeah, she's been saving this body for her, and what if she's not worth it? What if who I've become [as Echo] is more evolved and has lived through enough to have just evolved further than Caroline?

And we'll see that resolved somehow?

Oh yeah, yes, you will. And also, we'll see more of Caroline, and Summer Glau is in there too. We get more flashbacks and you'll get more on how their friendship started and what happened. That's really fascinating, and actually you get to see that she's not as bad. ... Well, not that she's not as bad, but I sort of like her a lot more in the stuff that we shot later on towards the end of the season. Her redeeming qualities and character quirks.

Fans and followers made a stink about how Fox may have mingled with the show in the beginning, causing it to not gain as much traction as it could have. What do/did you think about that?

I think it's easy to point fingers at the end and play coulda-shoulda-woulda. I think initially Fox was really excited about Joss [Whedon] and I teaming up, and I think they were excited about the concept even though Joss has expressed that maybe the concept that they thought up and the concept that he created ... maybe there was a disconnect.

And she doesn't stop there, but we'll have more from the actress-producer when we post the whole Q&A next week.